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25 June 2021 | Story Lacea Loader | Photo Supplied
Mr Temba Hlasho, Executive Director of Student Affairs.

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) approved the appointment of Mr Temba Hlasho as Executive Director: Student Affairs for a five-year term. Mr Hlasho will assume duty on 1 July 2021. 

Extensive experience in the student affairs environment

Mr Hlasho was the Dean of Students at the University of Zululand, since 1 November 2019. Before that, he was Director: Student Affairs on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus. His career in higher education spans 25 years, beginning at the then Port Elizabeth Technikon as Head of a student residence in the 1980s. Before being appointed as the Head of Residences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 2014, he was the Director of Student Residences at the Vaal University of Technology. He completed a BCom degree at Vista University in 1994 before qualifying with an MPhil from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2006. Currently, he is pursuing a doctoral degree in sport sciences. 

“Mr Hlasho has valuable experience in leading and providing strategic direction to student service divisions and has developed, reviewed, and implemented departmental strategies. He worked in senior management and interacted to a large extent with student structures and the Student Representative Council, through which he gained appropriate experience to understand student dynamics, intersectionalities, and the complexities of the higher-education sector,” says Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor. 

Vision for Student Affairs at the UFS

Mr Hlasho’s vision includes enabling and supporting learning and living environments, professionalising Student Affairs, promoting and ensuring social justice, social cohesion, and critical diversity, strengthening student governance and engagement for academic success, and the alignment of funding to prioritised activities that support the academic project. “These are all critical areas that will ensure the establishment of a productive and transformative environment for an excellent student experience,” says Prof Petersen.

“My goal is to build open dialogue relationships with student bodies to better understand their plight, which will then be used as a leveller for enhanced positive working partnerships with colleagues in finding effective student solutions. I look forward to joining the UFS and to further develop the Student Affairs portfolio,” says Mr Hlasho. 

Mr Hlasho holds a 5th Dan black belt in judo and is an executive member and current President of Judo South Africa. 

News Archive

Prof Johan Spies learns about much more than genetics in Argentina
2014-04-23


People who attended the course enjoyed Argentina and its traditions very much.

Prof Johan Spies from the Department of Genetics visited Argentina, where he and Dr Carlos Acuna (Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Corrientes, Argentina) presented a course for doctoral students and staff of Cerzos-Conicet Bahia Blanca (something like the equivalent of South Africa’s NRF) and Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahia Blanca. Prof Spies presented chromosomal evolution and its effect on fertility, while Dr Acuna took care of apomixis.

Bahia Blanca is a city with a population of almost the same as that of Bloemfontein. The city lies at the mouth of the Naposta River, which almost forms a delta where it flows into the sea. Bahia Blanca (white bay) derives its name from the salt deposits that lends a white colour to the beaches.

The people are very friendly and one soon learns to extend a long arm in greeting. Otherwise you are stuck with an ‘Ola’ while men and women alike will grab even a complete stranger to plant a kiss on your cheek. For people who places great value on personal space, this friendly gesture is not always as welcome!

Barbeque is a choice dish and is usually in the form of beef rib. “It was great (especially if you shut your eyes and ignore the scrumptious fat and future heart attacks)! With the rib they usually had blood sausage and very tasty pork sausage on the grid. Everywhere people are sipping, through a silver straw, their ‘mate’ (pronounce maty), a type of tea made from the leaves and stems of Yerba paraguariensis. It is generally drunk from a special calabash ‘cup’ through a silver straw, which also serves as sift to keep the leaves from your mouth. The calabash is usually passed from one person to another, with each person taking a sip from the brew!  It is even passed around in class!  Another thing in conflict with the upbringing I received from my mother (as is the cup at communion)!,” says Prof Spies.

“My short visit also taught me that the Argentinians are a proud nation that often faced adversity in the past. Nevertheless, they do not try to change their past. Street names even refer to dates from their past when, for example, they were attacked by England (in 1807). Only the almost 30 000 people who disappeared under the military regime, are rarely talked about!,” says Prof Spies.

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